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Briggs
Manufacturing Company in World War Two
Detroit, MI
1909-1954
This page updated 10-27-2020.
Briggs Manufacturing Company was one of
several automotive body suppliers to the American automobile industry
during the first half of the 20th century. While the larger
vehicles manufacturers like General Motors had its own captive body
manufacturer with the Fisher Body Division, smaller vehicle
manufacturers like Chrysler and Packard purchased their automobile
bodies from Briggs. Other small vehicle manufacturers used other
dedicated body manufacturers.
Walter O. Briggs founded the company in 1909
after working for several coach builders and carriage upholstery
companies. Briggs Manufacturing got its big order in 1910 when
Ford Motor Company purchased 10,000 Model T bodies. In 1922 Briggs
introduced the first enclosed car body, a revolutionary idea at the
time. After that, it became a mass producer and specialty
body builder for many of the Michigan vehicle manufacturers of the early
automobile age. Ford was a e big Briggs customer early on,
purchasing Ford Model T and A truck beds, enclosed Ford truck
cabs, and Model A bodies. Briggs supplied bodies for all of Ford's east
coast assembly plants from its Cleveland plant. Other customers
over the years included Hudson, Graham-Paige, Packard, DeSoto, Plymouth,
Dodge, Stutz, Marmon, and Pierce-Arrow. As the years progressed,
Ford became less of a customer while Chrysler became more important to
Briggs as its main customer.
After many years as Chairman of the Briggs
Manufacturing Company, Walter O. Briggs passed away in early 1952.
In 1954 the Briggs family sold the remaining share of its stock in Briggs
Manufacturing to Chrysler, which was its largest customer. This
gave Chrysler its own in-house body supplier. At the same time the
Briggs Manufacturing Company passed into history and has been largely
forgotten. But between 1909 and 1954 it was the largest and most
influential of the independent body manufacturers in Detroit. Upon
his death, Walter O. Briggs was the richest person in Detroit.
For those unfamiliar with the automotive
technology of the early auto industry, the car bodies were normally
assembled in a separate body plant, often by a different company than where the final assembly of the vehicle
took place.
This came about due to the way the auto industry evolved in Michigan.
Inventors like R.E. Olds and Henry Ford were most concerned with the
drive train and the mechanical aspects of the vehicle. The auto makers turned to the
former coach and wagon makers in Michigan for the building of the
passenger body. Previous to the coming
of the automobile as a dominant industry in the 20th century in Michigan,
the state had been home to a large coach industry. Therefore, many
of the former coach builders became the builders of the original wooden
bodies for the fledgling car companies. Later the technology turned to
the steel bodies that are seen in the photo above.
The photo above shows a typical body line in the trim shop that could have
been in any one of many body manufacturers at the time. The line on
the left appears to be all convertibles, while the one on the right has
a station wagon and several sedan bodies on it. Once completed,
the bodies would be loaded on a truck and transported to the vehicle
assembly plant. When ready, the body would be mated to the chassis
in a body drop.
This former display at the Studebaker Museum
illustrates the body drop. The body manufacturers installed all of the
carpeting, seats, door hardware, and windows along with all of the
upholstery. While a person may have been driving a Chrysler
vehicle prior to 1954, he was sitting in a
Briggs-build body. Author's photo.
In 1935 Briggs Manufacturing converted 200
Ford sedans into Ford Deliveries. These may have been the first
SUVs. The back seats could be removed for a flat area for carrying
cargo. Author's photo from the Ford V-8 Museum in Auburn, IN.
Author's photo.
Briggs and other body manufacturers would
have huge stamping presses for all of the body parts which would be welded together in the body shop. The assembled body
then would be moved to the paint shop and then proceed to the trim shop,
where all the upholstery would be installed. The body
manufacturers would have entire departments, or even plants, that were
responsible for the building of the seats that went into the vehicles.
To me, growing up in Michigan in the 1950s,
Briggs meant Briggs Stadium where the Detroit Tigers played baseball.
Walter O. Briggs was sole owner of the Detroit Tigers from 1935
until his death in 1952. His son sold the Tigers in 1956. I was unaware until I
started working on this page that Briggs Stadium was connected to a Briggs Manufacturing
Company.
Back when I was in grade school, my father would take me once or twice
per summer to a Detroit Tiger's baseball game at Briggs Stadium in
Detroit. This was before the days of interstate travel. I still remember my dad
driving Grand River Avenue,
a three lane road. from Lansing to Detroit and back. The middle
lane was for passing. Each direction of travel had a specified
alternating section to pass in. It was not as dangerous as trying
to pass on a two lane highway of the era but it still could make for
some exciting times trying to get around a vehicle before the passing
zone ended.
I still remember some of the Detroit Tiger
baseball players from the era: Al Kaline was the big hitter for
the team and local superstar of the era. He played in the outfield
with Charlie Maxwell and Harvey Kuenn. Who could forget Rocky
Bridges at third base, Chico Fernandez at short stop, Hank McAuliffe at
second base, and Norm Cash at first base? I guess if there were
ever "good old days," going to Briggs Stadium with my father to watch my
favorite Detroit Tigers baseball player would be them.
The Briggs Stadium, later renamed Tiger
Stadium, was torn down in 1999 and replaced by a new stadium with new
owners. It will always be Briggs Stadium to me.
One of the Briggs Manufacturing Company's
main plants was at 11631 Mack Avenue in Detroit. It still exists
today as Chrysler's Mack Avenue Plant. Engines were produced there until 2012.
The plant is currently undergoing renovation to produce the next
generation Jeep Cherokee.
For several years, Briggs leased the former
Ford Highland Park Model T Plant when one of its plants was destroyed in a
fire. Briggs not only assembled Ford bodies in the plant, but
Chrysler bodies also. During World War Two, Ford built M4A3 Sherman
tanks and M10A Wolverine tank destroyers in the plant.
Briggs Manufacturing received the Army-Navy
"E" Award two times.
Briggs Manufacturing World War Two Military
Products: The company built over one billion dollars' worth of
stamped aluminum and steel components for military aircraft. It
had contracts with both the USAAF and the U.S. Navy for aircraft sheet
metal components. The 31,000 persons who worked at Briggs
Manufacturing Company during the war produced a multitude of components
to help win World War Two. It built 3,500 Knock-Down WC-64
ambulance bodies in 1945.
This Briggs Manufacturing Company data plate
is on a rebuilt wing for a Corsair restoration at the Tri-State Warbird
Museum in Batavia, OH. This is the only example of a Briggs
Manufacturing data plate I have found. The data plate appears to
be an unused example, and not the original that was on the wing.
However, this is an excellent example of a Briggs Manufacturing Company
data plate. Author's photo.
Aircraft -
B-17G: Outer wings, wing tips, stabilizers, fins,
ailerons, flaps,
ducts, ducting for air flow and turbocharger system, bomb bay
doors. Each bomb bay door used six
hundred parts and 5,400 rivets
Author's photo.
B-24: A13 Sperry ball turret.
This was the defensive gun position in the belly of the B-24. It
was located inside the aircraft during take-offs and landings. It
was then lowered once the aircraft took off.
There was not enough clearance for the aircraft to take-off or land with the turret
in the lowered position.
The following photos show two Sperry ball turrets at the National Museum
of the United States Air Force Dayton, OH. The first two photos
show them in the restoration area where they were being worked on.
The rest of the photos show one of them on display on the museum floor.
It is unknown whether Sperry, Briggs, or some other company built these.
The photos do show the detail and complexity of the turret.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Consolidated tail turret A-6 and A-6 -
Historical evidence shows that Briggs held training sessions for the
Consolidated tail turret. This implies that the company was also
building this turret for the B-24. Both the Sperry and
Consolidated turrets were installed in the B-24s being built by
Ford at Willow Run, MI.
A-20G: Outer wings, wing tips, ailerons
A Douglas A-20G on display at the National
Museum of the United States Air Force Dayton, OH. Author's photo.
This photo shows the Briggs-built wing tip,
wing, and aileron. Author's photo.
B-26C: Bomb bay doors, bulkheads,
Martin top turrets
A Martin B-26 on display at the National Museum
of the United States Air Force Dayton, OH. Author's photo.
Martin upper turret A-3 Series.
Historical evidence shows that Briggs held training sessions for the
Martin upper turret. This implies that the company was also
building this turret for the B-26.
B-29: Flaps, forward and aft bomb bay doors, nose wheel doors, outer
wings, dorsal fins, and stabilizers.
Briggs supplied the forward and rear bomb bay door assemblies, the nose
wheel door assemblies, the main landing gear door assemblies, and the
flaps to the Martin B-29 plant in Omaha, NE. The Omaha B-29 plant
built and modified all of the B-29s that were designated to carry the
new atomic bomb. Briggs Manufacturing-built B-29 components were
on the aircraft that bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This is the Enola Gay at the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport in
Virginia. The Briggs-built flaps can be seen in the down position
along the rear of the wings. Author's photo.
This photo gives a view of the starboard
side flap from the rear. The flap is almost as long as the P-47
underneath it. Author's photo.
This is the B-29 "Bockscar" that dropped the
second atomic bomb in World War Two and is on display at the National
Museum of the United States Air Force. In this photo the
Briggs-built nose gear doors and forward bomb bay doors can be seen.
Author's photo.
This shows the rivet pattern on the exterior
of the Briggs-built main gear door. Author's photo.
The inside of the main gear door was also covered with aluminum.
Author's photo.
This is a close-up photo of the forward bomb
bay doors. Author's photo.
PBY: Outer wings
Author's photo.
TBY: Wings - Only 180
Consolidated TBYs were built in Allentown, PA during World War Two.
By the time the TBY went into production, the General Motors-built TBM
had established itself as an effective torpedo bomber, of which
sufficient quantities were available. Also, the U.S. Navy was
running out of Japanese naval targets to attack. Therefore, only
the 180 aircraft were built.
Photo courtesy of the Mack Museum.
The folded wings on the TBYs coming down the production line show the
size of its wing. Photo courtesy of the Mack Museum.
F4F: Wings
The General Motors Eastern Aircraft Division
took over the production of the F4F in order for Grumman to concentrate
on building the newer F6F fighter. The Eastern Aircraft Wildcats
were designated FM-1 and FM-2. This F4F-4/FM-1 with a Briggs wing
is on display at the Valiant Air Command Museum in Titusville, FL.
Author's photo.
F4U: Wings
The Vought F4U Corsair was flown by the U.S. Navy and USMC. Goodyear built the Corsair under license
as the FG-1. Author's photo.
This Corsair is in long tern restoration at
the Tri-State Warbird Museum in Batavia, OH. The wing in the
background has the Briggs data plate on it. Author's photo.
This shows that Briggs was building wings
for Goodyear of Akron, OH. This stands to reason as both were part
of the auto industry and were geographically close together. If
Briggs built all of the wings for the Goodyear FG-1s, it would have
been able to provide 4,007 wing sets. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
The data plate can be seen about one-third
the way up in the wing end. Author's photo.
Other -
Truck body parts: Unspecified cabs, tops, and ambulance bodies
- Dodge was the primary builder of military ambulances during World War
Two.
This WC-27 ambulance was one of 2,579 built in 1941 and 1942. This
particular unit was produced in 1941. Author's photo from Thunder
over Michigan in 2014.
This 1943 WC-53 3/4 ton Carryall was one of
8,400 built in 1942 and 1943. It is only logical that the Briggs
Manufacturing Company built the bodies for the WC-53, as it was the main
peace time supplier for Chrysler. Author's photo from the 2014 MVPA Louisville
convention.
The WC-64 was the Army's replacement for the
WC-54. The concept was to provide a field ambulance that did not
take as much room to ship overseas. The steel cab of the WC-54 was
replaced with a fold-down windshield and canvas roof. Briggs
developed the ambulance body that was shipped as a knock-down.
When it arrived in the theater of operations, the ambulance body was
assembled. With this configuration, more WC-64s could be stacked
inside a ship's cargo area. Briggs built 3,500 of these in
1945. Author's photo added 10-27-2020.
This is the only WC-64 I have found to
date. The WC-64 arrived too late to serve in World War Two.
It was provided extensively to American allies after World War Two.
This rare example was on display at the Indiana Military Museum's 2014
World War Two Days. The Briggs design had a wider body which
allowed for easier loading and unloading of litter patients that the
previous WC-54. Author's photo added 10-27-2020.
Author's photo added 10-27-2020.
The Briggs design used threaded fasteners to
assemble the body. Author's photo added 10-27-2020.
Author's photo added 10-27-2020.
M26 Pershing Heavy Tank?: Tank hulls
(90mm and 105mm models) - The historical record shows Briggs
making M26 tank hulls during the war. This does not make
sense, as this does not fit into what the company specialized in
building. It stamped out sheet metal and then welded or riveted it
together for automobile, truck bodies, or aircraft parts.
Fabricating tank hulls would have required a foundry operation which
would have been considerably outside the expertise and experience of the
company.
There is nothing in the historical record that indicates the Briggs
Manufacturing Company ever purchased or operated a foundry. If it
actually did get into the foundry business, the hulls would have been for the Chrysler Tank Arsenal as they included
hulls for the 105mm howitzer version. Only Chrysler built this
model. Also, Chrysler was Briggs most important non-war customer.
Chrysler eventually purchased Briggs in 1954.
This is a Chrysler-built M26 Pershing.
The manufacture of the hull was outside the specialized expertise of the
Briggs Manufacturing Company. Author's photo.
Briggs Motor Bodies, Ltd. in the United
Kingdom during World War Two: Briggs had two plants in England
during World War Two. One was at Dagenham and the other at
Doncaster. Briggs was in the U.K. initially to supply bodes to the
local Ford Motor Company plant. It also produced bodies for
Austin, Chrysler and others. During World War Two Briggs in the
U.K. manufactured at a minimum steel helmets and jerry-cans.
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